Lessons in Life
by take a left
Summary: Perhaps the best story told and the best lessoned learned is one of life. And one learns that perhaps definitions are what you make of them.


Disclaimer: All standard disclaimers apply. No monetary profit intended or made. Just some personal fun to be shared.

Lessons in Life

The images flashed in rapid succession and burned across his retinas. They blurred and refocused as he blinked much needed moisture back into his eyes.

… 9 dead from a car bomb…

…arrested for cruelty to animals…

…fix for all your aches and pains…

…hey Mr. Wilson, what…

…for $19.95 you too…

…this time give her something she really wants, a…

Placing the remote back on the coffee table, he adjusted himself, finding another position in which to wait for time to pass. A glance at his surroundings found that time so far had failed to improve his accommodations. The same beige and green tones marked the furnishings in this environment. Meant to evoke serenity in its occupants, it was sorely lacking. Serenity seemed anathema to the words: Emergency Room Waiting Area. He would rather have felt the soil beneath him and looked upon the true myriad hues of greens and browns that only nature could really produce and to foster any attempts at a serene state of mind. Such inadequacies chafed but, as with time, were learned to be endured.

He settles more surely in his seat. The rasp of cloth on cloth seemed amplified throughout the room. It was fitting that in this time of need, emergency services were not in high demand. The grate of a compact of bodies and whining sounds would not have made for pleasant circumstances, for himself, and as a result, nor for everyone else in the vicinity. And yet, the quiet, the faux soothing colors in all their researched probabilities did nothing to bring him ease. That pinch of nerves that tensed something in his shoulders and somewhere around his heart still had not settled. Science and the general populous would call it something plain, like stress or worry or fear. Triggers fire signals along synapses to culminate in altered states. The results usually are a product of unique, individual responses and what are commonly ascribed as emotions. He would never say has experienced such pathetic lapses or vacillations in his control. Nor, if he had, would he deign to call them something silly like emotions. He is. All that surrounds him, all that he experiences, he never falters in being him and ascribing moments to things beyond his control. All that ever was, all that is ever left is him. Even in humiliating moments.

He recalls one such moment where the burn of a blade felled him from his rage. In one instant, his limbs numbered less by one. While time had seen fit to restore his body to the correct number as it passed, he was himself as he always was before and after the regeneration. Physical impairments are meant to be ignored. Only life threatening wounds are permitted to garner any kind of response, and permission does not necessarily equal allowance.

'_But doesn't that make you dull?'_

_'Dull?'_

_'Surely a little loss of control, a little moment of feeling makes you better instead of worse.'_

_That did not even merit a response._

_'Look, aren't swords honed in fire? I'll take that eye quirk of yours to mean yes. Then testing the sword and honing it in moments of fire and passion make for better craftsmanship. Otherwise, it's just a shiny piece of metal ornament.'_

_'Shall I show you how much of an ornament __Toukujin__ really is, __miko__?'_

_'That's not what I was talking about and you know it.'_

_'__Perhaps, miko, in all your understanding of a basic tenet of sword making, you miss all else. Y__ou fail to remember that a true sword may be honed in fire, __but that fire burns__ and __is__ carefully controlled. The master smith orchestrates both so that in the hands of a master wielder true perfection can be attained.'_

_The eye widening and blinking were not as succinct in their expression but given her age and __malleableness__, such was to be expected. The quicksilver thoughts and emotion that flashed across her eyes and flushed her being also seemed especially expected of this particular female. _

_'__Argh__! Really, Sesshoumaru, all I'm asking is that you admit that playing in the __sea __was fun! __'_

_Droplets of moisture seemed only to enhance the rosiness of her flesh._

_'Well?'_

_Moments of fire and passion, indeed__. Embers and flame hardly are products of their own._

_'Oh alright. Have it your way.' __A deep breath to blow away another moment.__ 'I'll go check on the fish. I'm pretty sure they're almost done.'_

_An economical pivot and the march back to lunch began. A few feet hardly constitute an epic journey, but as a master knows, seconds in forging, seconds in battle, can be all that__ balances you and the other side. It is the steps forward that carry the results of that time gone by._

_And a deigning to sigh.__ '. . . __perhaps__.'_

_Others may have made __an association with fish. But a master knows his art, and at times, the art comes to know the master back._

_She does not falter but merely pauses, turns her head with a careless tilt. And with luminescent eye__s peering over a dampened shoulder,__ she smiles._

The sound of a beep causes him to reach into his trouser pocket and pull out a slim cellular phone. Flicking the lid, a name appears across the screen. A push of a button and an elegant twist of the wrist have sound once again breaking the quietude and vibrating in less than dulcet tones across his ears.

"What the fuck?! Where the hell are you?! Why the fuck haven't you been picking up until now?! This is the fiftieth time I've called you!"

"Once again, your foul mouth precedes you, Inuyasha."

"I don't give a damn about my mouth! It's your mouth and hers and the rest of you both that goes with 'em that I give a damn about! They're supposed to be here, damnit! _Here_!"

"We have been delayed."

"Delayed?! What fuck do you mean delayed?!"

"I assumed when I used 'delayed' you would know what I meant, Inuyasha."

"That's not what I meant and you know it! Aahh! When are you . . ."

_How different things sound coming from another mouth._

The squeak of sneakers and the sucking sound of a sealed door opening pulled his attention. A spectacled female with short dark hair and a wiry frame, of middle age and tired eyes entered the room, a clipboard in hand. He lowered his hand.

"Mr. Taishou?"

"Yes."

She took a seat in a nearby chair.

"I'm Dr. Ami Dan, the attending physician for your wife. We have been able to stop the bleeding, and her blood tests have come back clear. However, we would like to keep her under observation for the next 24 hours to be sure. With her permission, we have already transferred her to a room upstairs. Did you have any questions at this time, Mr. Taishou?"

"Where is she?"

A quick flip of some papers. "She is in room 383. I'll be happy to…"

The sudden beeps and vibration at the side of her hip had her looking down. A slash of her eyes, and she was several rooms away.

"I'm sorry. As I was saying, I would be happy to have someone escort you if needed. Were there any other questions?"

"No, doctor."

"If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask."

He could see that she had never returned once she was aware she was needed elsewhere. He inclined his head, and with a deeper bow, she briskly rose and exited the room. As the door swung shut, echoes of shouts could be heard, interspersed were the words "car accident" and "perforated artery." It seemed the lull in emergency needs was over.

A glance down showed that he had neglected to push the off button, and discordant sounds could be heard from the earpiece.

"..oumaru! Sesshoumaru! Why the fuck are you talking to a doctor?! Hello! Hello! Where the hell are you?! Damnit, Sesshoumaru, will you fu…"

It was an easy thing to hit the button, and return the phone to his pocket. It immediately began to beep once more, and it was an even easier thing to turn it off completely, rise, and head towards the nearest elevator and his wife.


End file.
